This Vegan pasta salad with chickpeas contains refreshing cucumbers, tangy and sweet cherry tomatoes, crunchy corn kernels. It’s topped with a simple vegan mayo dressing and is perfect for meal prep.
Why you will love this Creamy Chickpea Pasta Salad
- This salad hits all the notes of refreshing, filling, tasty and best of all…easy to make. You can enjoy it cold or warm, as perfect weekday lunch, or quick breakfast.
- The recipe combines both fresh and canned ingredients which makes the prep time shorter without having to sacrifice the overall freshness of this creamy chickpea pasta salad.
- The ingredients used have a fairly long refrigerator shelf life. So you can make this recipe on a over the weekend and store it for up to three days.
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that the amounts of the ingredients and the cooking instructions (in detail) are in the RECIPE CARD. Keep scrolling and you will find it down below.
Whole wheat Fusilli Pasta– not only is whole wheat pasta an excellent source of fiber, it is also contains essential minerals. I recommend using this pasta shape or another that has perfect nooks for the sauce to nestle in.
Chickpeas- for convenience, I used canned chickpeas. Note that if you use an unsalted can of chickpeas you will need to adjust for more salt as needed.
Corn– again for convenience, I used canned corn. Great flavor and crunch without the hassle.
Cucumber– fresh and crunchy! If you want to avoid a watery salad and a longer shelf life, I recommend deseeding the cucumbers or using ones without that many seeds.
Cherry tomatoes– you can use either cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. I’m not sure what the major difference is but they both work great. Although cherry tomatoes would give the best results in flavor, you can use any kind of tomatoes you have on hand. Be sure to deseed the ones that have a lot seeds.
Red onion-for added flavor and is an essential ingredient when making fresh pasta salad.
Vegan Mayo– this or plain unsweetened vegan yogurt makes this chickpea salad incredibly creamy.
Lemon– the juice for a bit of a tang and extra flavor.
Garlic powder, paprika and olive oil adds flavor to the chickpeas.
How to prepare and assemble your Vegan Pasta Salad with Chickpeas
1.Cook pasta according to the package instructions. Don’t forget to add salt to the water you boil it in. Al dente pasta works best with this recipe. When the pasta is ready, run it under some cool water to prevent any further cooking.
2. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Add olive oil to a skillet over medium heat then sprinkle on paprika and garlic powder. Allow the chickpeas to brown for five minutes unstirred, stir and then allow to brown for another five minutes, remove from heat afterwards.
3. Chop and deseed cucumber, dice tomatoes and red onions and add them to a bowl followed by the canned corn.
4. Add the pasta to the bowl, the vegan mayo, then the chickpeas and mix. To top it all off, squeeze half of a lemon overtop the pasta and serve cold or warm.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fusilli, rotini, rotelle, elbow or farfalle(bowtie) pasta are filled with what I like to call little ‘sauce pockets’. Their shapes are perfect for holding on to dressings and sauces. I recommend using either one of these pastas for the best results but if they aren’t available to you , any pasta will do.
- Instead of red onions, you can use half the amount of grated yellow onions.
- While the protein content of this dish is high, you can incorporate Chickpea pasta to increase the protein content of this dish.
- Instead of chickpeas, you can use canned black eyed-peas .
How to Serve, Store and Reheat your Vegan Pasta Salad
You can enjoy this salad cold, warm or at room temperature. What to do with your leftovers? store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days. If you need a quick and warm meal reheat in the microwave for a few minutes and you’re good to go!
More Delicious Chickpea Recipes:
Chickpea Curry without coconut milk
Rainbow Vegan Pasta Salad with Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat fusilli pasta
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 can corn
- 1 cup cucumber diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ small red onion 2 tbsp., minced
- 2 tbsps. Olive oil separate
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- ½ cup vegan mayo/ unsweetened plain yogurt
- ½ tsp. dried parsley
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions in salted water. When the pasta is al dente, drain and rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chickpeas, garlic powder, paprika and stir.
- Leave unstirred for 3-5 minutes, reduce heat to low, stir then allow to the chickpeas to brown for 5 minutes. This dramatically enhances the flavor of the peas.
- Dice the cucumbers and deseed them. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half and then finely mince the red onion. Drain and rinse the canned corn and add them to your large pasta bowl.
- Combine vegan mayo/plain unsweetened yogurt, 1 tbsp. Olive oil, dried parsley, and lemon juice. Drizzle this dressing over your pasta salad and mix until evenly distributed.
- Serve warm, cold or room temperature and enjoy.
Notes
Made this recipe? Let me know how it went by leaving a comment below
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